It’s been a brutal month for Newark Liberty International Airport, as telecommunications and radar outages have plagued one of the nation’s busiest airports, triggering delays and cancellations for thousands of passengers.

An air traffic controller who works the airspace around Newark, N.J. speaks out about what it was like to lose radar and communication systems during a shift, and how the situation got to be so bad.

According to the New York Post, a blackout on April 28 for air traffic controllers overseeing Newark led to many workers taking trauma leave, exacerbating its staff shortage. In addition, a Newark Airport runway is closed for “rehabilitation work” leaving the airport with only one functioning runway.